Natalis” in the Name of the Yellow Bullhead Ameiurus Natalis Christopher Scharpf

Lost in Translation: The True Meaning of “Natalis” in the Name of the Yellow Bullhead Ameiurus natalis Christopher Scharpf

11 American Currents Vol. 45, No. 2

LOST IN TRANSLATION: THE TRUE MEANING OF “NATALIS” IN THE NAME OF THE YELLOW BULLHEAD AMEIURUS NATALIS

Christopher Scharpf The ETYFish Project

The Yellow Bullhead Ameiurus natalis (Figure 1) is a catfish (Si- French cognate of Pimelodus natalis in the form of “Pimelode luriformes: Ictaluridae) native to North American fresh waters Noël.” In naming this catfish natalis, Lesueur was in fact honor- from southern Canada and the Great Lakes to the Gulf of Mex- ing a French fisheries inspector whose name means Christmas: ico, west into the Great Plains and the Rio Grande, with nonin- Simon-Barthélemy-Joseph Noël de La Morinière (1765–1822). digenous populations throughout most of the contiguous Unit- ed States and in the lower Colorado River system of México. The LESUEUR’S ORIGINAL DESCRIPTION species was introduced to science under the name Pimelodus To accurately understand the etymology of any plant or animal natalis by French naturalist Charles-Alexandre Lesueur in 1819. binomen, it is essential to consult the publication in which the Since Lesueur did not explain the meaning of natalis, Ameri- name was proposed. Since Jordan’s explanation of the mean- can ichthyologist David Starr Jordan attempted to explain the ing of natalis involves anatomical characters (nates or buttocks) name in several publications, including the seminal four-vol- presumably possessed by the fish, it is instructive to see if those ume Fishes of North and Middle America (1896-1900). Jordan characters are mentioned by the naturalist who coined the claimed that natalis means “having large nates, or buttocks.” name. In the case of Ameiurus natalis, the answer is no. Jordan’s explanation has been repeated in many scientific and Born in Le Havre, France, Charles-Alexandre Lesueur (or Le popular publications ever since. Unfortunately, it is incorrect. Sueur, 1778–1846; Figure 2), was an artist and naturalist who ex- Jordan based his explanation on a misinterpretation of the plored the world collecting and illustrating animals new to sci- Middle English natal, which, depending on its derivation, can ence. In 1815, he joined Scottish mineralogist William Maclure mean two widely different things: buttocks or Christmas. Jordan (1763–1840) on a study tour of the West Indies and the United applied the anatomical version of natal to the catfish’s name, States. Lesueur settled in Philadelphia in the spring of 1816 and apparently unaware that Lesueur included in his description a was elected a member of the Academy of Natural Sciences in De- cember of that year. His lithographs for the premier issue of the Journal of the Academy of Natural Sciences may be the first lithographs published in America (Peck and Stroud 2012:16). In the early years of the 19th century, the fishes of North Amer- ica represented a largely unknown fauna. Knowing that many new species awaited discovery, Lesueur set out to collect, illustrate, and study the fishes of this young and unexplored country. From 1817–1825, he published 19 ichthyological papers, in English, in the Academy’s Journal. These papers included the original descriptions of such well-known American fishes as the American Eel Anguilla Figure 1. Possibly the first published image of Ameiurus rostrata (1817), Chain Pickerel Esox niger (1818) and Sailfin Molly natalis. Illustration by Charlotte M. Pinkerton, appearing in Poecilia latipinna (1821), to name but three. His lone non-English Forbes & Richardson’s Fishes of Illinois (1908). paper on fishes during this time was “Notice de quelques poissons découverts dans les lacs du Haut-Canada, durant l’été de 1816” (“Re- Christopher Scharpf was the editor of American Currents from cord of some fishes found in lakes of Upper Canada during the sum- 1996 through 2008. He has also served on NANFA’s Board of mer of 1816”), in the French journal Mémoires du Muséum d’Histoire Directors and as Membership Coordinator. He met his future Naturelle, Paris, published in 1819. This paper contains the original wife Stephanie at the NANFA Convention in Chattanooga in description of two catfish species whose names are still valid today: 1998. Since 2009, Chris has been working on The ETYFish Proj- the Brown Bullhead Pimelodus (now Ameiurus) nebulosus and the ect, the first and only reference to explain the derivations and Yellow Bullhead Pimelodus (now Ameiurus) natalis.1 meanings of the generic and specific names of all the fishes of the world. He hopes to wrap things up in 2021. Chris was named 1 In 1819, Pimelodus was a catch-all genus for many non-European cat- a NANFA Fellow in 2004. fishes. Proposed by Lacepède in 1803, the name refers to the “fatty” or Spring 2020 American Currents 12

is long and rounded; their color is dark red, mixed with a little yellow; the top of the head is a dark green tint, which is lighter on the back, turning yellow on the sides and becoming light yellow on the abdomen. The lateral line is straight and more apparent in this species than in others. The head is wide and a bit spherical [round]; the teeth have the same distribution as in other species [of Pimelodus]. There are eight whiskers. Those of the lower jaw are uneven; the two in the center are the shortest. This species does not reach a remarkable size; it barely is over 8 French inches. The remainder of the text under the Pimelode“ noël” header comprises a provisional description of another catfish species, which Lesueur informally called “Pimelodon livrée.” Surgeon- naturalist John Richardson (1787–1865) cited Lesueur’s description when he formally named the species Silurus (Pimelodus) in- signe (now known as the Margined Madtom Noturus insignis) in 1836 (p. 132). As is clearly evident, Lesueur did not mention rumps, nates or buttocks in his description. The inclusion of these body parts in the nomenclatural history of Ameiurus natalis began with David Starr Jordan.

NATALIS VS. NATAL: ORIGIN OF AN ETYMOLOGICAL ERROR David Starr Jordan (1851–1931; Figure 3) was the dominant figure Figure 2. Charles Alexandre Lesueur in 1818, oil portrait by in American ichthyology throughout the 50-year period strad- Charles Willson Peale. Note the eel (perhaps Anguilla rostra- dling the 19th and 20th centuries. He and his students and col- ta) in the jar. leagues were responsible for hundreds of taxonomic and regional Lesueur’s description of P. natalis is poorly done by today’s publications, culminating in the four-volume Fishes of North and standards and does not appear to provide a truly differentiat- Middle America (1896–1900), co-authored with frequent collabo- ing character. Not helping matters is the fact that no type speci- rator Barton Warren Evermann (1853–1932). mens survive, preventing one from examining the same fish that Like many of his contemporaries, Jordan was schooled in Latin. Lesueur had before him in 1819. Nevertheless, the name Pimelo- He mentioned studying Latin at a young age in his autobiography dus natalis became established in the literature, eventually be- Days of a Man (1922:I,19), and was one of the first ichthyologists, coming Amiurus (correctly Ameiurus) natalis when Theodore Gill if not the first, to regularly include fish-name etymologies in his revised the North American catfishes in 1861. Since it is impor- publications. In fact, Jordan tapped his Stanford University col- tant to note the presence or absence of specific anatomical features league, Walter Miller (1864–1949), a linguist and classical scholar, in Lesueur’s description, it is useful to provide an accurate English to review and correct the name etymologies in Fishes of North and translation here: Middle America (I,vii). Despite this pedigree, Jordan misinter- Pimelode noël. (P. natalis.) preted or mistranslated Lesueur’s use of the word natalis, engen- Spec[ific] charact[eristics]: An even body, fins tinted dering a false etymological explanation that persists to this day. dark red, olive-colored and plain [unmarked?] on the Natus is a Latin noun meaning birth.2 Natalis is the adjectival back, yellow under the stomach. form of that noun (i.e., of or belonging to one’s birth) and the root This pimelode has an even body from the dorsal to of such modern words as natal, innate and native. Natalis can also the tail, and can be contained between two parallels. be a noun, referring to a nativity (now usually called a birthday), an It is as high at the base of the adipose fin and at the anniversary or a commemorative festival. With the advent and rise end of the anal fin as from the base of the first dorsal, of Christianity, natalis came to be applied to one birthday and com- descending to the pectorals; whereas in other fish spe- memorative festival in particular: Dies Natalis Domini (Christi), or cies, the part next to the tail is always the least high; the Birthday of the Lord (Christ). The ecclesiastical meaning of natalis is form of the fins differs little from the previous species; reflected in the words for Christmas in several languages, including that of the tail is shortened in a straight line. The anal Navidad (Spanish), Natale (Italian), Natal (Portuguese), and Noël (French, variant of nael, a doublet3 of natal). Beginning in 1887, zo- adipose fin possessed by many catfishes (pimele, fat; -odes, having the form of), including Ameiurus natalis. Today, Pimelodus (with 37 or so 2 species from Central and South America) is the type genus of the neo- Derivations and meanings of natus and nates and their non-ecclesiasti- tropical catfish family Pimelodidae. “Pimelode” is the French vernacular cal cognates are from Lewis and Short (1879). cognate of Pimelodus. 3 A doublet is one of two (or more) words that have the same etymological 13 American Currents Vol. 45, No. 2

Figure 4. “Pimelode noël”—the clue explaining the true meaning of natalis that Jordan never saw or overlooked. talis, Jordan incorrectly assumed the word was derived not from natus, meaning birth, but from the Latin nates, meaning rump or buttock. Jordan also erred in not noticing that the correct adjectival form of nates is natal (referring to or having a rump) rather than natalis. The anatomical application of natal in zoology is rare but not without precedent. Natal callosities, also called ischial callosities, are the thickened areas of skin on the buttocks of many primates, particularly baboons and macaques (Miller 1945). Jor- dan, however, trained as a physician with an M.D. from Indiana Medical College, may have had the natal cleft in mind when he attempted to explain natalis. In humans, the natal cleft is the groove between the buttocks that runs from just below the sacrum to the Figure 3. David Starr Jordan in 1880, the year the third edi- perineum. It is colloquially called the “butt crack.” tion of his Manual of the Vertebrates of the Northern United Jordan first wrote about Ameiurus natalis in 1877 in the sec- States was published. ond part of a series of papers called “Contributions to North ologists have used natalis for animals native to Christmas Island, an American Ichthyology.” He divided the species into six geo- Australian territory in the Indian Ocean discovered on Christmas graphic subspecies: natalis (Great Lakes to North Carolina and Day in 1643: a bat, Pteropus natalis Thomas 1887; a crab, Gecarcoidea south), lividus (Ohio Valley to Arkansas, North Carolina and natalis Pocock 1888; a goshawk, Accipiter fasciatus natalis (Lister south), coenosus (Maine to Great Lakes and northward), cu- 1889); a swift, Collocalia natalis Lister 1889; a dove, Chalcophaps in- preus (Ohio Valley, Mississippi Valley and south), antoniensis dica natalis, Lister 1889; an owl, Ninox natalis Lister 1889; a spider, (Georgia to Texas), and analis (Arkansas River).5 While Jordan Ariadna natalis Pocock 1900; and two fishes, a blenny, Praealticus did not explain the meaning of natalis nor specifically mention natalis (Regan 1909), and a goby, Eviota natalis Allen 2007.4 nates or buttocks, he was intrigued that Lesueur described a fish Jordan clearly missed the Christmas connection in Lesueur’s in which the caudal peduncle (“the part next to the tail”) is not use of natalis. Whether he had not seen Lesueur’s paper (which, tapered (“always the least high”) as it is in most other fishes. since it was published in France, is a possibility) or simply over- “The description of Pimelodus natalis Le Sueur,” Jordan wrote, looked the reference to “Pimelode noël” (Figure 4) is impossible “appears to have been based on an individual with the caudal to say. Confronted with the need to explain the etymology of na- peduncle swollen and elevated” (p. 88).6 Jordan then described what he termed the “natalis” form of Ameiurus catfishes, char- acterized by a “shortened and thickened” post-dorsal region root but establish themselves in a language via different routes. and an “enlarged” adipose fin. “Whether these peculiar forms 4 Animals named natalis but not named after Christmas include the beetle are distinct races or aberrant individuals,” Jordan continued, genus Natalis Castelnau 1836, named for Puerto Natales, Chile, presumably near type locality of N. laplacii; a moth from Sri Lanka, Amyna natalis “or stages in the life of an individual, or what they are, I have not (Walker 1858), etymology not explained nor evident; a fossil synapsid from now sufficient evidence to enable me to decide” (p. 88). the Early Permian of Texas, Dimetrodon natalis (Cope 1878), allusion not Fishes do not have rumps or buttocks, at least not in the way hu- explained but perhaps referring to its primitive (i.e., natal) stage of develop- mans do. But if one were to define the terms as “fleshy parts on the ment in the evolution of reptiles (Creisler 2016); Slyela natalis Hartmeyer back side of an animal,” then one could construe that the caudal 1905, a tunicate named to celebrate the 80th birthday of the German zoologist Karl August Möbius (1825–1908); the ichnospecies Striatichnium na- 5 talis Walter 1982, a swimming arthropod (Permian of Germany), its name Despite meaning “anal,” the subspecies analis was not named for nates derived from the Latin verb nato, swim, after the term Natichnia (swim- or buttocks but for its “extremely long” anal fin. ming tracks of invertebrates); and Nataliconus Tucker & Tenorio 2009, 6 The qualifier “appears to have been” is important to note. Jordan is named for its type species Conus natalis Sowerby 1892, a gastropod named merely guessing that Lesueur’s specimen has a swollen caudal peduncle for its occurrence in the Natal region of South Africa. since the specimen no longer exists and no illustration of it was made. Spring 2020 American Currents 14 peduncle or adipose fin of Lesueur’s Pimelodus natalis corresponds large buttocks” (Simon and Wallus 2004:78); Fishes of Vermont, to the gluteal muscles of primates (including humans), especially if “with nates or buttocks” (Langdon et al. 2006:233). one believes that natalis means rump or buttocks, as Jordan clearly Some authors apparently struggled with the “large buttocks” did. In 1878, in the glossary of the second edition of Jordan’s Manual explanation, adding their own interpretations to account for the of the Vertebrate Animals of the United States, natalis is defined as fact that a fish does not have buttocks. In Inland Fishes of Cali- “with a projecting rump” (p. 384). In the fifth edition of the Manual fornia (1976:241), Moyle claims that “large buttocks” refers to the (1888), Jordan deleted the glossary but added to the main text brief “obese specimens originally described by Lesueur in 1819” (even translations of the scientific names of all included fishes. His transla- though Lesueur described only one specimen and did not call it tion of natalis is given as “Lat., having large nates, i.e. adipose fin” fat or obese; that descriptor apparently came from Jordan (see (p. 40). This definition is repeated in all subsequent editions (12 in above). Tomelleri and Eberle make the same claim in Fishes of the all, ending in 1916). Here Jordan unambiguously states that the fish’s Central United States (1990:119). One publication, The Great Min- nates or buttocks refer to its adipose fin. nesota Fish Book, appears to take its lead from Jordan’s mention of Curiously, Jordan deleted mention of the adipose fin in connec- A. n. analis, the nominal subspecies with the long anal fin, claim- tion with the etymology of the fish’s name in his most famous and ing that “large buttocks” is a reference to the species’ long anal fin, important work, Fishes of North and Middle America. Here he (and said to be the longest of the three bullhead catfishes (including A. Evermann) simply state: “natalis, having large nates or buttocks” nebulosus and A. melas) in the Midwest (Dickson 2008:65). (I,139). Jordan reprised the subspecific divisions he proposed in The most common contemporary explanation for “large but- 1877, this time adding anatomical details that future ichthyologists tocks” appears to mirror Jordan’s description of a “more or less (see below) may have used in their attempts to explain the buttocks swollen and elevated” nape on the nominal subspecies A. n. reference. A. n. natalis is described as having a “sometimes extreme- antoniensis. However, modern authors have added a detail not ly obese body” whose posterior half is “thickened and shortened,” mentioned by Lesueur or Jordan, namely that the swollen nape is whereas A. n. antoniensis has a “more or less swollen and elevated” seen only on adult or breeding males. According to Fishes of Ten- nape (as in neck, not to be confused with nate). None of these sub- nessee, natalis means “with large buttocks, perhaps in reference species are considered valid today (Gilbert 1998). to the large nuchal humps of mature males” (Etnier and Starnes 1994:302). Freshwater Fishes of Virginia posits that natalis “proba- THE LEGACY OF JORDAN’S ERROR bly alluded to the swollen and medially furrowed dorsal head and Jordan’s Manual of the Vertebrate Animals of the United States nape muscles of breeding males” (Jenkins and Burkhead 1994:47). passed into obscurity. Fishes of North and Middle America did Nearly identical claims are put forth in Fishes of Alabama and not. The work became the standard reference for 20th-century the Mobile Basin (Mettee et al. 1996:383), Inland Fishes of Missis- ichthyologists studying North American fishes. Its magnitude, sippi (Ross 2001:330), Fishes of Alabama (Boschung and Mayden scholarship, and utility seemed impossible to surpass. According 2004:330), Fishes of the Middle Savannah River Basin (Marcy et to Jordan’s student and successor Carl L. Hubbs (1964:57), young al. 2005:217), Freshwater Fishes of South Carolina (Rohde et al. ichthyologists were advised to study fishes from other lands be- 2009:224), Freshwater Fishes of Ontario (Holm et al. 2010:258), cause North America was done! It was, for many years, definitive. and this author’s own “Annotated Checklist of North American If “Jordan and Evermann” (as the work came to be called) said Freshwater Fishes” (Scharpf 2006:14).8 natalis refers to “large nates or buttocks,” then the fish must un- Interestingly, none of the accounts cited above repeat Jordan’s questionably have large nates or buttocks. 1888 statement that “large nates” refers to the adipose fin of Amei- “Jordan and Evermann” became a handy and authoritative urus natalis. This suggests that the authors of these accounts did not source of taxonomic data for the many “Fishes of …” books and look beyond Fishes of North and Middle America for the etymology monographs7 that began appearing in the 20th century. Many of of the name. Regrettably, the ichthyological legacy of Jordan and Ev- these publications repeated the “nates and buttocks” claim verba- ermann’s great work includes the acceptance and perpetuation of an tim or nearly so: Fishes of North Carolina, “having large buttock” etymological explanation that simply is not correct. (Smith 1907:67); Freshwater Fishes of Canada, “having large nates or buttocks” (Scott and Crossman 1973:598); Fishes of Kentucky, NOËL DE LA MORINIÈRE: THE TRUE “L natis rump or buttock; an allusion to the large nates or but- MEANING OF “NATALIS” tock” (Clay 1975:201); Fishes of Missouri, “having large buttocks” Lesueur did not state why he selected natalis as the name for one (Pflieger 1975:211); Fishes of the Minnesota Region, “having large of the catfishes he described in 1819. He did, however, provide a buttocks (Latin)” (Phillips et al. 1982:177); Fishes of Wiscon- significant clue by including the vernacular epithet Pimelode“ sin, “having large nates, or buttocks” (Becker 1983:708); Inland noël.” With this French transliteration of the fish’s Latin moniker Fishes of New York State, “having large nates or buttocks” (Smith (natalis = Noël), Lesueur unambiguously indicated that the name 1985:81); Fishes of Utah: a Natural History, “having large nates or means Christmas or is in some way related to Christmas. But why buttocks” (Sigler and Sigler 1987:153); Reproductive Biology and 8 Early Life History of Fishes in the Ohio River Drainage, “having Despite repeated references to swollen napes of adult or breeding male Ameiurus natalis, independent verification of such a claim is hard to 7 Many websites have repeated the “nates or buttocks” explanation as find. Two references come close. Forbes and Richardson (1908) describe well, including FishBase, Planet Catfish, and the University of Michi- “fleshy prominences covered with thick and loose skin on either side of gan’s ADW (Animal Diversity Web) database. The Wikipedia entry for a median groove through occipital region to base of dorsal” (p. 185). Jen- Ameiurus natalis repeats the claim as well, but adds a footnote that the kins and Burkhead (1994) report “Two males from June and July had claim is “dubious” (last accessed 6 April 2020). pronounced swellings of dorsal head and nape musculature” (p. 545). 15 American Currents Vol. 45, No. 2

Christmas? Did Lesueur collect the fish on Christmas Day? No; ring, a history of whaling, and works on the geography, river naviga- the title of Lesueur’s paper in which the description appeared says tion, and fisheries of the Seine-Inférieure (now Seine-Maritime) de- it was collected during the summer of 1816. Was he referring to its partment in Normandy. In 1813, he sent a letter to Thomas Jefferson “tinted dark red” fins and “dark green tint” on the top of the head, (1743–1826), former third President of the United States (1801–1809) red and green being colors traditionally associated with Christ- and then-President of the American Philosophical Society, asking for mas? Possibly but probably not; the fish’s red-and-green tints (as “specific information about the twelve principal species of useful fish described by Lesueur) seem too drab to be compared to the fes- that can be found in the rivers of the United States, considered from tive red-and-green colors of a holiday wreath with berries.9 The the point of view of their usefulness to society” (translation from Loo- most likely explanation of natalis, one in which all the pieces fit ney 2008:603). Noël included with his letter the prospectus of a pro- together, is that Lesueur honored a contemporary whose name jected six-volume history of fisheries. Jefferson likely never received means Christmas in French: Simon-Barthélemy-Joseph Noël de the letter and Noël never finished the series; despite working on it for La Morinière (1765–1822). 20 years, only a single volume appeared (1815). In 1806, Noël became Little known in America today, Noël de La Morinière (hereinafter inspector general of marine fisheries of France, a position he held until Noël) was a polymath of some note in his native France during the his 1822 death in Trondheim, Norway, where he was assessing fishing Bourbon Restoration. A resident of Rouen, a port city on the River resources of the North Sea. Seine and capital of the region of Normandy, he studied law, edited Although Noël’s publication plans did not come to fruition, he a newspaper, and wrote on a wide variety of subjects (e.g., economic shared his manuscripts and illustrations with the French natu- and political conditions in Latin America), but his primary interests ralist Bernard-Germain-Étienne de La Ville-sur-Illon, comte de were the natural history, culture and economic value of aquatic life, [count of] Lacepède (1756–1825), author of Histoire Naturelle particularly fishes. Noël published natural histories of smelt and her- des Poissons (1798–1803). He also shared specimens of fishes he thought were new to science or unusual in some way. Noël is cit- 9 While the upper body of Ameiurus natalis can be described as olive ed or mentioned no less than 65 times in Lacepède’s five-volume or greenish (and the lower body yellowish to white, hence the common name Yellow Bullhead), neither Jordan & Evermann nor any of the con- work, usually in reference to in situ observations of habitat, dis- temporary accounts cited herein describe its fins as red. The most fre- tribution, abundance, and migratory behavior. In volume three, quently mentioned colors, when mentioned at all, are various combina- Lacepède showed his appreciation by naming a new species of tions of dusky, light to dark gray, and dark brown. carangid fish after Noël, Scomberoides noelii (now considered a nomen dubium or species inquirenda), as a “solemn mark of grati- tude and esteem” to a man “who very much deserves the everyday thanks of naturalists for his labors, and whose precise observa- www.jonahsaquarium.com tions have enriched so many pages of the [natural] history that we write” (translated from Lacepède 1801:III,51). Clearly, Noël was well known in French ichthyological circles by the time Lesueur described Pimelodus natalis in 1819. But what in- spired Lesueur to name an American catfish after a fisheries inspec-

l l tor in France? Unfortunately, there is not enough evidence (at least Darters Sunfish Killifish available in the United States) to answer that question. In his 1817 de- Gamefish l Native Fish scription of the American Eel Anguilla rostrata, Lesueur mentioned that “Mr. Noel of Paris has informed me that a German naturalist, Delivered to your Doorstep! who had travelled in North America, published some years ago, in Europe, an account of some fishes of the United States” (pp. 82–83). 20 yrs Exp More telling is an entry about Lesueur in an 1818 French reference work, Biographie des Hommes Vivants (Biography of Living Men). Ac- Shipping cording to the entry, one of Lesueur’s objectives in studying the fishes of North America was to provide Noël with living specimens that Live Fish might be suitable for the freshwater rivers of Europe. Lesueur proposed sending fishes of an “amphibious nature” (translation) suppos- Live ing they would be better suited to surviving the trip from Delaware Delivery to Paris and Le Havre (a major port city where the Seine meets the English Channel). Lesueur, the entry concludes, “believes that these Guaranteed Jeremy Basch says, species, endowed, moreover, with great fertility, would multiply pref- “I never get wet without erentially in muddy rivers, such as the Somme, the Marne, and the Easy Charente” (translated from Michaud 1818: IV,214). One other piece Ordering my Perfect Dipnet!” of evidence suggests a more personal relationship between the two men. In a 6 December 1818 letter to his friend, the zoologist Anselme Email Orders: [email protected] Gaëtan Desmarest (1784–1838), written in Philadelphia, Lesueur explained that he explores, collects, and gives lessons in sketching to Text Orders: 614-723-9082 “some very pleasant young ladies” on Wednesdays and Saturdays. “I use Fridays and Sundays,” Lesueur continued, “which are my free Spring 2020 American Currents 16 days, writing my friends” (quoted in Hamy 1904:41; English trans- Dickson, T. 2008. The great Minnesota fish book. Minneapolis: University lation in Haber: 1968:30). According to Lesueur’s biographer E.-T. of Minnesota Press. Hamy, these friends included Noël de La Morinière. Etnier, D.A., and W.C. Starnes. 1994. The fishes of Tennessee. Knoxville: Unless there is a treasure-trove of uncatalogued letters and University of Tennessee Press [1993 on copyright page but apparently manuscripts in France waiting to be mined, little more is known not available until 26 May 1994]. about the Noël-Lesueur connection.10 We can surmise that Lesueur Forbes, S.A. and R.E. Richardson. 1908. The fishes of Illinois. In: Natural admired Noël or was indebted to him in some way. But the precise history survey of Illinois. Danville, Illinois. v. 3: frontispiece, i–cxxxi + 1–358, 55 pls. reason why he honored Noël must remain a mystery, at least for now. Why Lesueur chose to disguise the patronym by selecting natalis Gilbert, C.R. 1998. Type catalog of Recent and fossil North American instead of the more explicit noelii must also remain a mystery. Per- Freshwater fishes: families Cyprinidae, Catostomidae, Ictaluridae, Centrarchidae and Elassomatidae. Florida Museum of Natural History, haps Noël was so well known in France that readers of Mémoires Special Publication No. 1. i-ii + 1–284. du Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle, Paris would have understood and Gill, T.N. 1861. Synopsis of the genera of the sub-family of Pimelodinae. appreciated the indirect reference behind the name. Proceedings of the Boston Society of Natural History 8 (1861–1862): 46–55. THE VALUE OF AN ACCURATE ETYMOLOGY Haber, H.H. 1968. The travels of the naturalist Charles A. Lesueur in Knowing the correct derivation and meaning of any plant or ani- North America, 1815–1837. Kent, Oh.: Kent State University Press. mal name adds to our knowledge of the taxon, the intention of [annotated translation of Hamy 1904] its author(s), and the historical setting in which it was described. Hamy, E.-T. 1904. Les voyages du naturaliste Ch. Alex. Lesueur dans Likewise, an incorrect explanation detracts from that knowledge. l’Amérique de Nord (1815–1837). Journal de la Société des Américanistes Considering how multiple generations of ichthyologists have un- de Paris 5: 1–111 + 1–17 pl. [see Haber 1968 for English translation] questioningly accepted and perpetuated Jordan’s claim that nata- Holm, E., N.E. Mandrak, and M.E. Burridge. 2010. The ROM field guide lis refers to nates or buttocks, it’s more than a bad translation, it’s to freshwater fishes of Ontario. Second printing. Toronto: Royal Ontario bad science and bad history as well. Museum. One can imagine that Charles-Alexandre Lesueur took plea- Hubbs, C.L. 1964. History of ichthyology in the United States after 1850. sure in naming a fish in honor of Noël de La Morinière. After 200- Copeia 1964(1): 42–60. plus years of obscurity, mistranslation, and misinformation, we Jenkins, R.E. and N.M. Burkhead. 1994. Freshwater fishes of Virginia. can take a similar pleasure in knowing that Noël is finally getting Bethesda, Md.: American Fisheries Society [1993 on copyright page but the etymological recognition he deserves. published 21 April 1994]. Jordan, D.S. 1877. Contributions to North American ichthyology. No. 2. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS Bulletin of the United States National Museum No. 10: 1–120, Pls. 1–45. Susan Binkley provided the English translation of Lesueur’s origi- Jordan, D.S. 1878. Manual of the vertebrates of the northern United nal description. Ben Creisler, an expert on the derivations of dino- States, including the district east of the Mississippi River and north of saur names, independently uncovered the Noël-Lesueur connec- North Carolina and Tennessee, exclusive of marine species. 2nd ed. tion while teasing out the etymology of Dimetrodon natalis; his Chicago: Jansen, McClurg & Company. findings greatly enhanced this study. Jordan, D. S. 1922. The days of a man. Vol. 1. 1851–1899. Yonkers-on- Hudson, NY: World Book Company. Literature Cited Becker, G.C. 1983. Fishes of Wisconsin. Madison: University of Jordan, D.S. and B.W. Evermann. 1896. The fishes of North and Middle Wisconsin Press. America: a descriptive catalogue of the species of fish-like vertebrates found in the waters of North America, north of the Isthmus of Panama. Boschung, H.T., Jr., and R.L. Mayden. 2004. Fishes of Alabama. Part I. Bulletin of the United States National Museum No. 47: i–lx + Washington: Smithsonian Books. 1–1240. Clay, W.M. The fishes of Kentucky. 1975. Frankfort: Kentucky Lacepède, B.G.E. 1801. Histoire naturelle des poissons. v. 3: i–lxvi + 1–558, Department of Fish and Wildlife Resources. Pls. 1–34. Creisler, B. 2016. Decoding Cope’s Texas taxa: Eryops and Dimetrodon Langdon, R.W., M.T. Ferguson, and K.M. Cox. 2006. Fishes of Vermont. natalis. Post to the Dinosaur-L mailing list. 5 June 2016. http://dml. Waterbury: Vermont Department of Fish and Wildlife. cmnh.org/2016Jun/msg00012.html (assessed 26 Sept. 2019). Lesueur, C.A. 1817. A short description of five (supposed) new species of the genus Muraena, discovered by Mr. Le Sueur, in the year 1816. Journal 10 Two other possible Noël-Lesueur connections: From 1801 to 1803, of the Academy of Natural Sciences, Philadelphia 1: 81–83. Lesueur and François Péron were companions on a French expedition to Lesueur, C.A. 1819. Notice de quelques poissons découverts dans les lacs New Holland (Australia). Péron was writing the second volume of his re- du Haut-Canada, durant l’été de 1816. Mémoires du Muséum d’Histoire port on the expedition when he succumbed to tuberculosis in 1810. On his Naturelle, Paris 5: 148–161. death bed, he bequeathed his manuscript to Lesueur to revise, correct, and Lewis, C.T., and C. Short. 1879. A Latin dictionary. New York: Harper complete. Lesueur was not available, and so Lesueur’s father, Jean-Baptiste- and Brothers. Online at http://www.perseus.tufts.edu/hopper/text?doc= Denis Lesueur, asked Noël (among others) to complete the task. Noël re- Perseus:text:1999.04.0059 cused himself (Hamy 1904:5) or “disclaimed competence” (Haber 1968:3) In 1813, Lesueur sketched the seashore between Le Havre (Lesueur’s home- Looney, J.J. (Ed.) The Papers of Thomas Jefferson. Retirement Series, vol. town) and Sainte-Adresse (Vincent 2013:35), along the English Channel in 5, 1 May 1812 to 10 March 1813. Princeton, N.J.: Princeton University the Seine-Maritime department of the Normandy region of France, and Press. [Also available at https://founders.archives.gov/documents/ during Noël’s tenure as marine fisheries inspector in that region; whether Jefferson/03-05-02-0515-0001] Noël commissioned or knew about the sketches is not clear. 17 American Currents Vol. 45, No. 2

Marcy, B.C., Jr., D.E. Fletcher, F.D. Martin, M.H. Paller, and M.J.M. Rohde, F.C., R.G. Arndt, J.W. Foltz, and J.M. Quattro. 2009. Freshwater Reichert. 2005. Fishes of the middle Savannah River basin. Athens: fishes of South Carolina. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press. University of Georgia Press. Ross, S.T. 2001. Inland fishes of Mississippi. Jackson: University Press of Mettee, M.F., P.E. O’Neil, and J.M. Pierson. 1996. Fishes of Alabama and Mississippi. the Mobile basin. Birmingham, Al.: Oxmoor House. Scharpf, C. 2006. Annotated checklist of North American freshwater Michaud, L.G. (Ed.) 1818. Biographie des hommes vivants. Tome fishes, including subspecies and undescribed forms. Part II. American quatrieme. La–Oz. Paris: Anthe Boucher. Currents 32 (4) [Fall]: 1–39. Moyle, P.B. 1976. Inland fishes of California. Berkeley: University of Scott, W.B., and E.J. Crossman. 1973. Freshwater fishes of Canada. California Press. Fisheries Research Board of Canada Bulletin 184. Miller, R.A. 1945. The ischial callosities of primates. Developmental Sigler, W.F., and J.W. Sigler. 1987. Fishes of the Great Basin: a natural Dynamics 76(1): 67–91. https://doi.org/10.1002/aja.1000760104 history. Reno: University of Nevada Press. Noël de la Morinière, S.B.J. 1815. Histoire générale des pèches aciennes et Simon, T.P., and R. Wallus. 2004. Reproductive biology and early life modernes, dans les mers et les fleuves des deux continens [General history history of fishes in the Ohio River drainage. Vol. 3. Ictaluridae—catfish of ancient and modern fishing, in the seas and rivers of two continents]. and madtoms. Boca Raton, Fl: CRC Press. Tome premier. Paris: Imprimerie royale. Smith, C.L. 1985. The inland fishes of New York State. Albany: New York Peck, R.M., and P.T. Stroud. 2012. A glorious enterprise: the Academy State Department of Conservation. of Natural Sciences of Philadelphia and the making of American science. Smith, H.M. 1907. The fishes of North Carolina. North Carolina Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. Geological and Economical Survey, Raleigh. Vol. 2: i–xi + 1–453, Pls. Phillips, G.L., W.D. Schmid, and J.C. Underhill. 1982. Fishes of the 1–21. Minnesota region. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. Tomelleri, J.R., and M.E. Eberle. 1990. Fishes of the central United States. Pflieger, W.L. 1975. The fishes of Missouri. Jefferson City: Missouri Lawrence: University Press of Kansas. Department of Conservation. Vincent, T. 2013. Pêcherie et pièges à poissons du littoral de la Richardson, J. 1836. The Fish. In: Fauna Boreali-Americana; or Seine-Maritime: un premier essai de prospection, de localisation, de the zoology of the northern parts of British America: containing dénombrement et de classement typologique. Bulletin de l’A.M.A.R.A.I. descriptions of the objects of natural history collected on the late (Association Manche Atlantique pour la Recherche Archéologique dans northern land expeditions, under the command of Sir John Franklin, les Îles) 26: 27–48. R.N. J. Bentley, London. Part 3: i–xv + 1–327, Pls. 74–97.

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